Browse >
Home / News / Seeking justice for the murder of two Mon villagers

Seeking justice for the murder of two Mon villagers

September 13, 2016

It has already been six months since two Mon villagers, U Moe, 41, and Maung Chit Soe, 21, were shot and killed by Captain Zaw Myo Htet from Light Infantry Battalion 280 (LIB-280) in Magyi Chaung Wa village in southern Ye Township, Mon State.

The victims, both fishermen were shot and killed at midnight on March 8, 2016 when they left home to go fishing. The perpetrator claims that it was an accident.

On September 8, 2016, a press conference was held on the six month Memorial event for the murder of the two Mon villagers. The event was held at Paing Khit Hall, Myaing Thar Yar, Moulmein because no action has been taken in the last six months to bring the perpetrator to justice.

At the conference, Dr Nyan Zaw from Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) said the case has already been brought to military court. According to the Law in section (37), MNHRC cannot be involved in the case if it is already being investigating by the court.

Although MNHRC cannot be involved in the case, they have submitted letters to the Ministry of Defense to ask for transparency regarding the case, suggesting that the Ministry of Defense release a statement discussing the outcomes of the case. MNHRC said they will keep following the progress of the case until it finishes.

The victim’s brother U Ba Ye said “we heard that the perpetrator is detained at Battalion No.208 in Dawei. We asked how he is detained: whether he is in jail or not. They said he is in under house arrest. But we did not see it. We don’t believe it until we see it. We will keep organizing the press conference until justice has been revealed.”

Ko Jimmy, Director of Association of Human Rights and Justice Initiative (AHRJI), who is working for on the case said “we held this conference because it has been 6 months now but there is still no transparency regarding this case. If there is still no action next month, we plan to go to Nay Pyi Taw and hold another press conference. If it still does not help, we are going to organize a protest. We hope the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission will take an action. If they don’t take action, we are going following through with our plan.”